Long-Time Concord Educator Gives Board Of Education Run A Shot

CONCORD, NH — One of the surprise candidacies of 2019 for the Concord Board of Education is David Parker, who is running for the District B seat, and not for the reasons people might think. A long-time educator in the city of Concord, known for his private day school academy located in the old Millville Elementary School that he built up across three decades after starting a tutoring business, it was a no-brainer that someday, Parker might want to contribute to the Concord public schools. He has contributed to a number of boards, including the library board and 10 years on the zoning board of appeals.

But after placing second in the at-large Concord city council race earlier this year, most presumed with two seats open in November, he might give it another shot. Instead, Parker declined.

In fact, Parker wasn't actually planning on running at all this year. But then, the Primo "Howie" Leung teacher-student rape case shook the community to its core. And the "naiveté" of the board, was just as shocking to Parker.

"Not only the school board but the administration needs some real vetting," he said. "It needs some real examination. There are some very talented people on there. But their mode of communication, their mode of delivering information, their mode of problem solving, was more than problematic."

Parker said there doesn't seem to be any separation of powers when the superintendent is sitting right next to the board members. He was shocked during the summer when the process of a policy review didn't include faculty integrated with the parents, students, and other stakeholders. While the programming in Concord was good, he said, they seemed "out of touch" on "a whole combination of things," which prompted him to run.

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During a roundtable discussion about their roles advising the district, Parker was stunned, too, that only one board member said they had spent any significant time in the schools. That meant, he said, they were only listening to what administrators were telling them and not seeing things for themselves – and probably not getting a full picture of what is going on. While the position is volunteerism, it's still work, Parker said, and there are problems.

Oversight, especially "fiscal reasonability," while also working to not be as insular as they are, would help. It's OK to be inquisitive and look outside of the district's own sphere instead of being "are all in their places, with sunshiny faces." The minute the public began to criticize them, for a major issue like a teacher-student rape case, "they didn't know how to handle it" and "couldn’t deliver solutions, while ridiculing public engagement," he added.

Strong leadership was important, Parker said, but the top-down approach, instead of true collaboration, was not always optimum. Training, bringing outside people in to help, challenging the status quo, are all OK; don't squelch the creative process and involve everyone, he said.

Special education is Parker's specialty and there were a lot of problems in the Concord system. He does have some district students and if elected, will recuse himself from any conflicts of interest, "because I think that's important." Parker said he cleared his run with the district's clerk attorney, Roger Phillips.

Communication needs to be improved on the board, he said, with members encouraged to dissent. The board president shouldn't speak for everyone, as a whole; they should all speak for themselves. It's healthy, Parker said, to speak as individuals and invite the community in.

Tackling the Rundlett Middle School, where Parker once taught, will also be a major issue in the coming years.

Parker, as an education programmer, looks at the project a bit differently. The district and city need to look at best practices now and then, look ahead to the future. It should not be starting with the building and then, trying to fit the children and programming into that plan. Best practices are moving more toward village schools – not large warehouse schools like Concord just spent $90.8 million constructing. It is why Parker Academy is small, he said, with a giggle.

"Education is dynamic," Parker said, "especially now, with all we are learning about the brain and neurosciences and how people learn. We are going to be moving from the models of large classrooms to more interdisciplinary experiential learning. It's what works."

Rundlett, he said, "does feel big" to a lot of students and shoving fifth-graders in there, to free up room in the elementary schools for full-day kindergarten, might not be the best idea, Parker added.

"There's a big gap between fifth-grade and eighth-grade, socially," he said. "It's a hard age. But it is the age that kids either turn off or turn on to learning. If you have a kid turning off to middle school in the fifth-grade, they are going to be a very difficult learner in high school."

Programs don't take a lot of "fancy stuff; they take quality and well-trained personnel" which is why professional development is so important, Parker said. The post-Leung training was "nothing new … it was 10 years old." It's a changing world and "programming comes before bricks and mortar … look at Amazon."

Cultural integration of the children in the district was also important which is why Parker sponsors multicultural events in the community. But, it's not just the festivals that bring people together, the district should be addressing the needs of all the city's children, he said.

Trauma, anxiety, and mental health, and the demands on children are another focus especially when it comes to balancing their ability to learn. It affects the cost of education which is why the district needs to be proactive not reactive, "and there will be fewer problems."

There are different skillsets on the board but more emphasis needs to be made on the programming, which is why Parker is excited about the challenges of the future. Education is "rapidly changing," he said, and board members need to be able to talk about it "with some understanding of the content of education and learning … it's not just about buildings; it's not just about policies."

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